TentLabs XO-DAC

External DACs need that same low jitter clock!
Industry solutions using off the shelf input receivers do
not offer jitter at the levels a serious audiophile need.
XO-DAC retimes the regenerated clock and delivers a new
clock: equal frequency but at least 30 times lower jitter!
The complete board is ready to mount, it is a little bit
more cumbersome compared to mounting XO-2 or XO-3 but the
result is definitely worth the trouble.

Purpose

XO-DAC is specifically designed as an
upgrade for external audio DACs. It generates a new, low
jitter clock, which in turn clocks the DAC chips. This will
yield lower distortion figures in the audio spectrum, which
directly pays off and results in:
• Lower grain
• More resolution
• Better transparency
• Cleaner sound
• Better bass

Technology

XO-DAC module contains a secondary PLL,
with a carefully designed low frequency low-pass filter.
Within that loop a low noise opamp drives a Tentlabs VCXO with low intrinsic jitter
(3ps rms). The resulting clock is one that nearly
matches that VCXO jitter.

All electronics on board of XO-DAC are fed with a low noise
power supply. It now exhibits a staggering low 5 nV/Sqrrt.
Hz noise level within the critical range of 20 Hz to 100
kHz. That is 30 times quieter than an average LM317 based
voltage regulator! Just to give you a hint of what we mean
with "low noise"……..
All active stages have their own decoupling capacitor, and
a novel compound RF series impedance towards the supply
rail. It keeps it clean from RF currents generated by the
clock and the logic circuitry on board of XO-DAC.

Application

XO-DAC is a small module, intended to
be fitted in your DAC as an aftermarket upgrade. It offers
a plug and play solution to effectively reduce the clock
jitter. When your CD player or drive contains an XO3 clock
board, TENTlink mode can be applied in
conjunction with XO DAC.